RED's home 4k Projector under 10k, Sony's home 4k Projector over 20k!!

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. That and Sony has yet to get the 1000ES to play nice with several of the 4K boxes, output cards, etc.. that have been hitting the market. They have been telling people that the projector interface is upgradeable and many of us are hoping that it will get a reasonably priced HDMI 2.0 upgrade. However, no announcement or official word on such an upgrade yet. Even though Sony announced along with the HDMI 2.0 reveal that all their 4K HDTVs will get the upgrade at no additional cost. Even the 84" and some of the first production 55 and 65 inch models that will need a board swap will get the treatment.

And when we look at what the upcoming laser units are going to provide, not just the one from RED, but others as well, it's very hard to be excited over the 1000ES or the 500ES thing they just announced. Simultaneous scanning output for both eyes in 3D is one thing that comes to mind. Vastly superior color space and blacks as dark as you can make your screening room.

As for the comment above about Barco and Sony showing laser projectors already, I guess I missed the Barco somehow. As for Sony, AFAIK, some things have only been shown to very select people behind closed doors. I've seen 4K blu-ray demos and have had my hands on PS4 hardware more than a year ago. I have yet to see a laser projector with a Sony badge on it.

 

[Ron Jones]

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. That and Sony has yet to get the 1000ES to play nice with several of the 4K boxes, output cards, etc.. that have been hitting the market. They have been telling people that the projector interface is upgradeable and many of us are hoping that it will get a reasonably priced HDMI 2.0 upgrade. However, no announcement or official word on such an upgrade yet. Even though Sony announced along with the HDMI 2.0 reveal that all their 4K HDTVs will get the upgrade at no additional cost. Even the 84" and some of the first production 55 and 65 inch models that will need a board swap will get the treatment.And when we look at what the upcoming laser units are going to provide, not just the one from RED, but others as well, it's very hard to be excited over the 1000ES or the 500ES thing they just announced. Simultaneous scanning output for both eyes in 3D is one thing that comes to mind. Vastly superior color space and blacks as dark as you can make your screening room. As for the comment above about Barco and Sony showing laser projectors already, I guess I missed the Barco somehow. As for Sony, AFAIK, some things have only been shown to very select people behind closed doors. I've seen 4K blu-ray demos and have had my hands on PS4 hardware more than a year ago. I have yet to see a laser projector with a Sony badge on it.

The following is the Sony announcement regarding upgrades to the Sony VPL-VW1000ES. This came out about 2 weeks ago and more info is expected at the CEDIA Expo next week: "Today, Sony is happy to announce more details of our VPL-VW1000ES update plan that we know many of you have been waiting for. Since this plan relates to some technologies that had not been announced, we needed a little time so we could discuss all the necessary details of the program. We thank you for waiting and trusting us, and hope that you will see this as an outstanding opportunity, as we do. As you know the VPL-VW1000ES was designed over 2 years ago, before recent security and HDMI standards were implemented. Now that those standards have been announced, we want to give owners an option to update their projector to take advantage of the new standards and the content that they enable. So, without further delay, here is what we are offering: If you purchased your projector in the United States and it is presently in the US, You are being offered the chance to upgrade your existing projector. Simply contact your dealer and they will take care of the arrangements and let you know of the costs, but please give them a little time as we were unable to contact every dealer ahead of time. Talk to your dealer and decide if the upgrade should be done at your home or at their shop, but physical update of the projector will be performed by a Sony technician, in either case. The update will not only add the ability to use the new Sony FMP-X1 4K Media Player but also adds 4K 60P (4:2:0) functionality to your projector for future 60P content. As you might know, the FMP-X1 media player comes with multiple Hollywood movies pre-loaded, but Sony has just added a live storefront to allow purchasing of additional 4K movies, as well. When updated, your VPL-VW1000ES will have the ability to play major studio movies in native 4K UHD resolution, so, as part of the upgrade package, we are including an FMP-X1 unit. Since the media player needs a Sony application to interface with your Sony Entertainment Network account, we are also including a Sony Tablet Z, as well. This award winning fully-functional Android-based tablet is used to allow you to purchase titles from the storefront, as well as to control the media player. At this time, the FMP-X1 is the only 4K player device that can provide access to major studio content, so we are happy to include it, as well. The in-home or dealer shop update will provide HDCP 2.2 copy protection support, 60P 4K (4:2:0) playback, a 4K Media Player and a tablet to control it. Since we are basically updating your projector with new features, we wanted to include a new lamp so that when installed it will really be like getting an entirely new projector. The value of all the components totals over $3,000, not counting the service technician or additional dealer services. Our expected cost to you for the update is $2,500 (10% of the list price for the projector), but check with your dealers as they are ultimately the ones that will set the final price. Please note that this is an optional upgrade and your projector only needs this update if you wish to add 4K player functionality to it. We know that today you have one of the best projectors on the market and hope that you appreciate our efforts to give you an option to add features and support your projector so that it can be used well into the future with the newer standards. We tried to do so at the minimal cost and have worked hard to provide you with additional value. In fact, we are even going to add some more features that we will announce at CEDIA, so we feel that you will be even happier with the additional capabilities we will be announcing then. Please understand that we have been waiting for the HDMI organization to finalize their newest specifications and, as such, the upgrades will not be ready until about November. However, we do ask that you pre-order as soon as possible so that we may ensure the availability of parts. Also note that, due to costs and logistics, we will be offering this update for a limited period of time only. The last day your dealer will be able to order the upgrade will be March 31st 2014. Again, we will be at CEDIA and request that if any of you come to that show, please stop by and say hello. We really like to listen and think you will agree that we have."